Jump to content

Top Gear


Waterside Echo

Recommended Posts

Could be of interest to HD. BBC 2 tonight at 7 pm. The team try and build mobility scooters capabte of tackling the British countryside's terrain. Ideal for exploring the old POW camp at Lodge Moor as I have heard someone is clearing the site. W/E.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could be of interest to HD. BBC 2 tonight at 7 pm. The team try and build mobility scooters capabte of tackling the British countryside's terrain. Ideal for exploring the old POW camp at Lodge Moor as I have heard someone is clearing the site. W/E.

PS Just been told it was last night. Ah well ! W/E

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched it at the weekend. Usual lad's larks, but for once made a serious point, that off-road mobility scooters are very expensive, and with some serious thought by manufacturers could be made both better and cheaper. And the 3 disabled soldiers using the real ones (as opposed to the 3 lads home-made ones) gave them a thorough work out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

timestamp='1330103355' post='103014']

Watched it at the weekend. Usual lad's larks, but for once made a serious point, that off-road mobility scooters are very expensive, and with some serious thought by manufacturers could be made both better and cheaper. And the 3 disabled soldiers using the real ones (as opposed to the 3 lads home-made ones) gave them a thorough work out.

The big problem is,

that most mobility scooters are manufactured abroad and the availability and price of spare parts

can a major problem,

to the extent of, if parts fail when out of warranty you could have to scrap it.

I'm not referring to the top named manufacturers like 'Pride'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The big problem is,

that most mobility scooters are manufactured abroad and the availability of parts is a major problem,

to the extent of if it breaks out of warranty you could have to scrap it.

I'm not referring to the top manufacturers like 'Pride'

I think that the vast majority of scooters are made in Taiwan including Pride, and as far as the Shoprider range goes I'm told that most parts are readily available. A "different" scooter that is heavily advertised on daytime TV is, I believe, made in the UK, but it is reported to be unreliable.The only parts I've required are motor brushes which cost me about £8 the pair.

The engineering of my scooter is of the belt and braces type with track rod ends and other steering components that would not disgrace a small car.

I think that many suppliers of mobility aids are only interested in selling another scooter and not really interested in repairs, " You can't get the parts Squire".

My scooter is now 3 years old and apart from the batteries which are down to about 50% capacity, is still in as new condition with no wear discernable anywhere.

My tyres are 14" diameter and I had them puncture proofed shortly after I bought it.

I might need some new batteries (about £250) later this year.

The suspension is a bit rudimentary with coil springs and no dampers but it keeps me fit, staying in the seat while bouncing over the huge ruts on the top of Redmires road.

If the Taiwanese keep building em like this I'll keep buying em while I need one.

HD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The suspension is a bit rudimentary with coil springs and no dampers but it keeps me fit, staying in the seat while bouncing over the huge ruts on the top of Redmires road.

Not been up there for a few years but have been told someone is clearing the old POW site. Over to you HD. W/E.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not been up there for a few years but have been told someone is clearing the old POW site. Over to you HD. W/E.

The missus is poorly at the moment but I'll have a butchers hook when time permits.

Do you mean the now forested area next to the football fields by the Sportsman, or the fields at the far end that were sold off by the council a few years ago ?

HD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The missus is poorly at the moment but I'll have a butchers hook when time permits.

Do you mean the now forested area next to the football fields by the Sportsman, or the fields at the far end that were sold off by the council a few years ago ?

HD

Not sure HD, all I was told was that a lot of trees had been felled and what looked like concrete hut bases had been uncovered. W/E.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure HD, all I was told was that a lot of trees had been felled and what looked like concrete hut bases had been uncovered. W/E.

There's a community archaeology project for the site planned for later this year, though it's still being finalised. The plantation was sold off by the Council not long ago, with lots of conditions about what could be done with it.

Perhaps the new owner is clearing the plantation or part of it, and this is where the project will cover? It would be very difficult to carry out such a project if it was still covered by trees.

There's a facebook page for the project, Redmires POW Camp Community Heritage Project

The remains of a WWII POW campsite are located on Redmires Road, Sheffield. The camp is extensive and it is estimated that at any time housed between 3000 and 5000 POWs. Prisoners worked on local farms and brick yards. Old people from the area remember seeing them being marched along Redmires Road. Some great friendships were made with local people at the end of the war. A church service was held at Christmas 1946 in Sheffield Cathedral for the POWs. The Bishop of Berlin came and the Redmires POW choir sang.

A group of local residents and archaeologists have formed a community group with the aim of finding out more about the camp. We are recording people's stories and hope to do some fieldwork to find out more about the guards' and prisoners' lives. If you have any questions, memories or information, please share it with us. Better still if you'd like to join our community group and get involved please get in touch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went for my consitutional this morning so thought I'd go and take a look. It's a real mess. No wholesale clearance, 'avenues' cleared, trunks/logs removed and brash in piles and all over the place. Looks more like a disaster area than professional logging!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a community archaeology project for the site planned for later this year, though it's still being finalised. The plantation was sold off by the Council not long ago, with lots of conditions about what could be done with it.

Perhaps the new owner is clearing the plantation or part of it, and this is where the project will cover? It would be very difficult to carry out such a project if it was still covered by trees.

As far as I know only the land at the far end of the plantation was sold off. It must have been a couple of years ago at least and included the marshy field and just a bit of the wood. I downloaded the sales particulars at the time.

The new owner put a steel gate in the gap in the wall but you could still walk onto it from the conduit side.

I've just been up there for a trundle on my 8 mph steed, (big mistake, biting cold wind). I should have used my other transport with it's dual zone, comfort control, air conditioning.

All the felling is inside the wood because there is no sign from Redmires Road or Brown Hills Lane.

The WW2 hut bases have always been visible among the trees. The WW1 camp was at the far end, on the sold off land, and the parade ground for the WW1 camp was where the WW2 camp was built.

As detailed elsewhere on this forum there is reputedly a sole survivor of the WW! camp in the shape of a very dilapitated wooden hut in the field below the bend in Roper Hill. It had a second life as the Lodge Moor Mission Hut ( on the site of St. Lukes Church) before it's third re-incarnation as a chicken shed.

HD

Postscript.

Just found out that the 9 acres of land at the far end was sold on 19th May 2005 (doesn't time fly) with stipulation that it was only to be used for horse grazing, agriculture, recreation or sport related. By my reckoning 9 acres is about 210 yards by 210 yards, so only a small part of the total site.

Also just discovered that the Sirofloc building within the Yorkshire Water Treatment Plant was sold of a couple of days ago for £85,000 by Eddisons Property Auction. That is the building at the western end of the site by the corner in the permissive footpath.

Apparently YW have been selling of bits of the site for some years now. I've had a look through the auction legal pack, (hundreds of pages) but other than the buyer has to strip out all the internal gubbins, I can't make any sense of it.

The usage is down as commercial.

Interrrestinnnng !

HD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went for my consitutional this morning so thought I'd go and take a look. It's a real mess. No wholesale clearance, 'avenues' cleared, trunks/logs removed and brash in piles and all over the place. Looks more like a disaster area than professional logging!

That's it then. It must be down to the council ! :rolleyes:

HD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...